Alaska Airlines will join Oneworld by the end of 2020

Alaska Airlines will join Oneworld, becoming the alliance’s 14th member airline “around the end of the year”, the global airline alliance said in a statement.

The US carrier is joining the Oneworld airline alliance earlier than it had initially planned. The airline said in February that it would join the alliance in summer 2021.

The airline’s wholly-owned regional subsidiary Horizon Air, as well as its regional partner SkyWest Airlines, will join as Oneworld affiliate members at the same time.

Alaska Airlines was elected as a Oneworld member designate following approval by the airline alliance’s governing board and a formal invitation extended to the airline. The airline first announced its plans to become a Oneworld member in February this year, when it unveiled plans to form a US West Coast International Alliance with Oneworld founding member American Airlines.